International

Will the Church of England halt the use of male pronouns, stop using the term "God," and drop the phrase "our Father" from the Lord's Prayer in favor of more gender-neutral language? No, that's not true: The press office for the Church of England told Lead Stories the church has been exploring the use of gendered language in relation to…

Is Pfizer spelled backward -- Rezifp -- the god of the plague and the underworld? No, that's not true: Rezifp has no meaning. The god of the underworld that social media posts are referring to is spelled Resheph. Pfizer, Inc. is named after Charles Pfizer, who founded the biotech and pharmaceutical company, then named Charles Pfizer & Company, in 1849.…

Is every disease caused by a lack of iron in the body? No, that's not true: There are many different types of disease, including infectious diseases (like hepatitis and COVID-19), non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease and stroke) and genetic diseases (like cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease), all of which are caused by different factors. The claim appeared in a…

Does a viral picture of a dog finding people under the rubble of destroyed buildings show the aftermath of the February 6, 2023, earthquake in Turkey? No, that's not true: The photo was taken three years before this natural disaster. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on February 6, 2023. It said: Our thoughts and prayers are with…

Do gorillas, sharks and wolves avoid illnesses because they do not eat chemically treated food like humans do? No, that's not true: Gorillas and wolves, both mammals, do get sick and can contract infections and diseases, wildlife experts told Lead Stories. Scientific studies and animal conservation groups have reported the same about the oft-repeated claim sharks never sicken. The claim…

Did Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel admit that the company produced 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2019 before the pandemic began? No, that's not true: A video snippet shared to social media does not make it clear Bancel is saying his company had manufactured 100,000 vaccines for all diseases in 2019, not those targeting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 --…

Was the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey and parts of Syria on February 6, 2023, fake and actually a planned, politically motivated attack against the Kurdish people in the region? No, that's not true: Seismic activity recorded by earthquake monitors around the world have documented the quake and its numerous aftershocks. The claim appeared on TruthSocial on February 6,…

Did the government of Thailand announce plans to cancel COVID-19 vaccine contracts with Pfizer-BioNTech after a suspected connection between the Pfizer vaccine and Princess Bajrakitiyabha's December 2022 collapse was established? No, that's not true: An official from Thailand's National Vaccine Institute told the Associated Press on February 7, 2023, that the country does not intend to reconsider its contract with…

Did a major tsunami hit Turkey soon after the February 6, 2023, earthquake? No, that's not true: Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency reported on February 6, 2023, that there was no danger of a tsunami striking the country's Eastern Mediterranean coastline. The International Tsunami Information Center gave Lead Stories a report that showed no significant rise in sea levels.…

Does a viral video show "proof" of "ascension" in Turkey during the deadly earthquake on February 6, 2023? No, that's not true: The clip itself bears a label that indicates it has been digitally altered. The claim appeared in a video on Facebook on February 5, 2023. The caption said: ASCENSION HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN TURKEY 🇹🇷 AFTER THOUSANDS DEAD…

Did a "local man" singlehandedly shoot down "in an EXTRAORDINARY act of vigilantism" the "Chinese spy balloon" recently flying over the continental United States? No, that's not true: The meme that makes this vigilante claim shows a comedian, Sam Hyde, who is routinely cast as the perpetrator in headline-grabbing news events in what one website has called an "extremely tired"…

Does video footage posted on social media show a tall apartment building in southern Turkey collapsing from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023? No, that's not true: This footage is not recent and is not from Turkey. It shows the June 24, 2021, collapse of a portion of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in the American town…

Did a British government department ask families hosting Ukrainian refugees to report adult males to the Ukrainian embassy in January 2023? No, that's not true. A spokesperson for the UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told Lead Stories on February 6, 2023, that a letter shared online was a hoax. In early February 2023, social media users posted…

Do pandemics happen every 100 years? No, that's not true: A post making the claim cherry-picks disease outbreaks, excluding obvious examples. It also misrepresents basic facts about the pandemics it does list, including the years in which the outbreaks began. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) published January 20, 2023. It included a short slideshow of images…

Did Elon Musk threaten in a series of tweets to block DirecTV's satellite dishes after the TV provider banned NewsMax from their channel lineup? No, that's not true: The story is labeled satire on the website that published it. SpaceXMania, the website where the article originated, wrote in its disclaimer that every story labeled Satire is "fiction." There is no…

Did business mogul Elon Musk and Canadian celebrities endorse the "new" cryptocurrency platform Quantum Ai, according to a video supposedly from the CBC? No, that's not true: CBC News told Lead Stories that they did not publish the video making the claim; Musk is not the founder or owner of the cryptocurrency trading system Quantum Ai, and he and the…

Has an international blood bank called Safe Blood Donation been opened in at least 16 countries to offer "pure blood," free of COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: A disclaimer on the company's website says the Safe Blood Donation blood bank is not currently in operation and does not grant access to unvaccinated blood. Rather, the company offers a paid…

Was the word "mummy" banned in British museums to avoid "dehumanising" the remains? No, that's not true: As of this writing, The British Museum still used the word to describe exhibits. Yet at least two other U.K. museums decided to adjust their language and switched to a different term, "mummified person." The underlying cause of the change was not an…

Did Robin Roberts, the longtime co-host of ABC Television's "Good Morning America" (GMA) die on January 30, 2023? No, that's not true: As of February 1, 2023, Roberts remained alive and well, and actively posting on Instagram from New Zealand. The post implying that she had died is a ruse to get readers to an ad for CBD products. The…

Is Hellmann's mayonnaise being discontinued in the United States, Canada and other countries around the globe? No, that's not true: Hellmann's will not be available for sale in South Africa, but there is no change in any other country, a spokeswoman for Hellmann's told Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published January 30, 2023. It…